New to this.

[New2offgrid]

Converting From L16H-AC to 24V 200Ah LiFePO4 Lithium Battery, Built-in 200A. Very very new to all this. System has a Xantrex SW4024, Outback Fleax 60. 1200 W of solar, a Bergey 1000 W wind turbine and we would like to add 6600 W of solar ultimately.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

Ok... so whats the problem? or are you just teasing us I am the local court jester, welcome to our humble forum (thats truly a joke). If you got questions, let us know some of the folks here are pretty high speed low drag.

 

[RyGuy]

Are you wanting to keep all this equipment and simply add on? Did you purchase the battery already? Did you buy a property with all this equipment already there and now you are learning/changing it for your needs? Is there a budget and time line? Are you living there? This kind of info helps others help you.

If this is a new property to you take a little time before buying much to learn a little and get feedback on your questions. It looks to me you have some good yet maybe dated equipment. This is the best time to set this up for YOUR needs. You may end up wanting to go 48volts.

 

[New2offgrid]

Ok... so whats the problem? or are you just teasing us I am the local court jester, welcome to our humble forum (thats truly a joke). If you got questions, let us know some of the folks here are pretty high speed low drag.

Well, I’m brand new to most of this and I have questions that bring up other questions.

 

[New2offgrid]

Are you wanting to keep all this equipment and simply add on? Did you purchase the battery already? Did you buy a property with all this equipment already there and now you are learning/changing it for your needs? Is there a budget and time line? Are you living there? This kind of info helps others help you.

If this is a new property to you take a little time before buying much to learn a little and get feedback on your questions. It looks to me you have some good yet maybe dated equipment. This is the best time to set this up for YOUR needs. You may end up wanting to go 48volts.

Well, we did purchase the battery. And the Xantrex SW 4024 settings need adjusted I believe for the battery. And possibly the flex max as well. I also have 24 panels I plan on putting to the system that’ll give me 6600 W of solar on top of the 1200 we have. The Xantrex SW 4024 won’t do 48v from what I got from the specs.

 

[New2offgrid]

Well, we did purchase the battery. And the Xantrex SW 4024 settings need adjusted I believe for the battery. And possibly the flex max as well. I also have 24 panels I plan on putting to the system that’ll give me 6600 W of solar on top of the 1200 we have. The Xantrex SW 4024 won’t do 48v from what I got from the specs.

Oh, and yes, the system was all there had been working for about five years with the current owner (who purchased this property five years ago with the equipment there) and the lead acid batteries are just getting way too expensive to replace every 5 to 10 years. And require great deal more maintenance and we like to travel so need something dependable.

 

[RyGuy]

So its not yours?

Looks like they are happy with the setup and just want more solar and new batteries.
My calc shows that the charge controller is somewhat close to max as far as input to output in ideal conditions.

I don't know much about the inverter. I suppose it may have some setting to change such as what voltage to shut down at?

If you only have 1 of the new batteries you are limited on how many amps can charge it. You have a 200ah battery. Opinion varies on charge rates here. Lets say you can charge it at .5c (half its capacity). That would be 100amps. If your current panels are capable at times of charging at around 30-40amps (1000 to 1200w/28ish volts) you are left with around 60-70amps that you can use from additional panels. 6600watts of panels if connected to a charge controller that is capable of their full output would be around 230amps at their peak. This is why I brought up how many batteries do you have and even going to a 48 volt system.

On the other hand the outback charge controller may be able to be over paneled a fair bit and limit the max charge on sunny days to 60 amps, but on cloudy days where you get 5-20% from the panels it would make no difference that the controller is under sized and would be fine on one battery. I don't have time atm to look at the outback specs.

Others may chime in.

 

[New2offgrid]

Sorry just found your message. New relationship and her property.. So I am trying to learn all of this. The company that did the original system won't return calls and it is hard to find anyone that is interested in educating and directing us on how and what to upgrade.. This guys YouTube channel helped a lot... https://cleversolarpower.com

 

[SteveBrown]

Sorry just found your message. New relationship and her property.. So I am trying to learn all of this. The company that did the original system won't return calls and it is hard to find anyone that is interested in educating and directing us on how and what to upgrade.. This guys YouTube channel helped a lot... https://cleversolarpower.com

I would highly recommend that you get his book and pay for his help. He worked with me for months through emails to build my system from 24 volts to a top of the line 48-volt system. This DIY forum is one of the best sources of information you'll find if you're going DIY. It's a small system but we get a lot of good from it.